What happened next
by JCB
Summary: **Last 2 Chapters up** Here's my idea of what could happen at the start of season 5
1. Prologue

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Disclaimer: I don't own Farscape or the characters, I'm just borrowing them

Prologue: And now on Farscape……..

A ripple of anticipation and excitement ran around the crew of the command carrier. It was impossible to keep news like this a secret among a crew of 50,000 people. It was amazing how many of them contrived to be near viewpoints when the ship was due to arrive. They were not disappointed. It appeared suddenly out of nowhere, a sleek, silvery-white beauty. The first in its class and the Peacekeeper's newest weapon in preparation for the showdown with the Scarrens that everyone knew was coming. It was rumoured that it could cover long distances using a type of starburst technique and even when not using that it had an average cruising speed of hetch 10. Although only half the size of the command carrier it had more firepower and could carry the same complement of Prowler fighter craft. Those lucky enough to have a vantage point generally watched in speechless awe as it glided in to dock with the carrier, making the older ship look cumbersome and outdated.

Braca adjusted his uniform nervously. It was very rare for a member of the first council to appear anywhere away from high command, least of all on a command carrier under the command of a comparatively junior captain. But he was preparing to receive a woman who was second only to the high commissioner in the Peacekeeper hierachy and head of the Peacekeeper intelligence service. He had heard a lot about Gella Listrac and he hoped most of it wasn't true. As she stepped on board, he observed a tall woman dressed in a plain black uniform. She had an erect stance and a very sharp, direct stare from her steely blue-grey eyes. The only surprising thing about her was her hair. Although it was ruthlessly pulled back in a long braid, he suspected that it was a vivid auburn colour when let loose. He unconsciously stood to attention as she approached.

"Welcome aboard, Ma'am"

"Don't ma'am me, Captain Braca"

"Yes, Sir"

"That's better. Now, I'm here to deal with Commandant Grayza. I understand you have her in secure custody"

"That is correct, Sir"

"Bring her to my quarters" She marched off, unerringly heading for the quarters always kept ready on a command carrier for visiting high-ranking officers. 

A quarter of an arn later found Commandant Grayza kneeling on the floor in front of Commissioner Listrac. She was almost unrecognisable from the confident women who had overthrown Scorpius and so tortured John Crichton. She wore a standard prisoner's boiler suit and her hands and feet were bound to stop her attempting to harm herself or using her heppel gland to affect her guards. She was dirty and her hair was a mess. She had the look of someone who was not entirely sane. Commissioner Listrac eyed her with distaste.

"Well, well Mele-on. I can't say that I'm surprised that you've come to such an ignominious end. Anyone with such a power lust as yours usually meets their just desserts." She walked around Grayza, her piercing eyes taking in every detail of the other woman's appearance, but her facial expression gave little away. "I must say this Crichton must be really quite something. I wonder what it is that seems to make him an irresistible target for which senior Peacekeeper officers are willing to throw away their careers. Crais is dead; you're as good as. Scorpius has at least kept his sanity but has seriously blotted his copybook with High Command. Anyway, on with the business at hand. The commission has considered the evidence presented from the reports and the various surveillance logs provided to us and deemed you to be a liability, Mele-on. I am here to carry out their sentence. You know what that will be don't you?"

"I hope I am to be granted the dignity of my rank"

"Yes, you will not have to suffer the living death. Captain Braca is arranging a firing squad now" Grayza made a sort of hissing sound.

"You'll all regret this. We could have had peace. I could have given us peace"

"I seriously doubt that," replied the Commissioner dismissively. She made a small gesture to the guards standing to attention at the side of the room who dragged the rambling prisoner away.

An arn later Grayza was brought in to one of the vast congregation areas on the carrier, lead to the wall and chained into position. A large number of the crew were gathered to watch, including all the senior officers, Listrac and Scorpius. On Braca's command the firing squad raised their weapons, aimed and fired. Grayza fell forward but managed to raise her head.

"Ha, couldn't quite do the job"

"Captain Braca, I strongly suggest that you give your men a double shift of marksmanship practice before they are allowed to go off duty again," replied the Commissioner. She took a weapon from one of the troops, raised it and shot Grayza dead; one clean shot between the eyes.

"That is how it should be done. Now, with that out of the way, let us get on with the job of finding the leviathan Moya, the escaped prisoners and the mythical John Crichton" she strode out of the room leaving a stunned silence in her wake.


	2. Chapter 1

****

Chapter 1

John Crichton awoke to find himself naked and lying on a floor.

"Ahh crap, don't tell me this is Einstein again with another of his unrealised realities." He looked around and realised that he wasn't in that cell on Moya and his clothes didn't appear to be about anywhere. Even more importantly one other key thing from day one was missing; Aeryn. Memories started to flood back; the boat, the baby, his proposal, Aeryn's emotional "yes", the ring, and their last kiss.

"How in the name of all that's holy did I end up here? And where is here? Am I in heaven or hell?" He felt his skin; he seemed real enough. "Doesn't seem like a dream. If this is what death is like; lying on a cold floor, buck naked and freezing the boys off, I think I'll pass." Looking around he found that he was in a grey room; grey ceiling, grey floor and four grey walls. No windows and no doors.

"How the frell did I get in here and more importantly how do I get out?" As if someone had been listening to his one-sided conversation with himself one of the walls slid back to reveal an alien with what appeared to be a noughts and crosses board tattooed on his face and a rather dodgy spiky haircut. The alien just stared at him for several moments before coming into the room. The panel in the wall slid shut behind him as another panel opened up to reveal a glass window behind which a number of similar aliens sat operating banks of equipment. The alien threw a bunch of clothes at Crichton who quickly started to pull them on.

"Alien intruder, what is your designation and why are you here?"

"Umm, I presume by designation you mean my name. Well the name's Crichton, John Crichton and if I knew where here was I'd tell you."

"You were trespassing in the Qujagan Sea"

"Trespassing? Look I'm really sorry, we didn't know it belonged to anyone. Someone told us the properties of the sea would heal our ship."

"The leviathan?"

"Yeah, she's called Moya"

"Why did you leave the ship?"

"Well, that's kinda personal. Talking of which, where's Aeryn?"

"Aeryn?"

"The woman who was with me in the boat." At that moment the alien's head opened up revealing an additional three eyes; two quite normal and one on some sort of extension that looked distinctly penis-like.

"Woo, I tempted to say dickhead but that's kinda rude and I get the feeling I might just need to be nice to you if Aeryn and I are gonna get outta here with all our bodily parts intact. Now back to my question. Where's Aeryn?"

"I will ask the questions alien, not you" penis-head man spoke "what species are you? You look sebacean but our analysis shows you are not." John was starting to get riled by the guys attitude

"Well it wouldn't 'cos I'm a human"

"Human. I have not heard of this species before"

"So? What's that to ya?" The alien ignored this comment

"Are you a Peacekeeper spy, John Crichton?"

"No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

"It would best for you if you tell us. You look like a Peacekeeper. You were found in the company of a Peacekeeper"

"Don't be fooled by the clothes, man, and she's not a Peacekeeper anymore. Hell, you can tell from my DNA that I'm not one of them"

"So you say, but DNA can be altered. However, we will continue to study you before making our decision"

"Decision about what?"

"All Peacekeepers invading our territory must be terminated immediately"

"You kill all Peacekeepers? I'm starting to like you"

"Yes, and anyone associated with them. It is why we have managed to keep our people safe from their tyranny for over one thousand cycles. You were only kept alive because we were curious about your species." The alien made to leave the room as the wall slid open again.

"What have you done with Aeryn?" John demanded

"Like you said, she was a Peacekeeper"

"No, no she isn't anymore, please no, for the love of God, I beg you, please no!" The alien gave him a long assessing look with all his eyes before his face closed up and he left the room. Behind him John fell to his knees and shouted at the top of his voice as if hoping she could hear him.

"AERYN, AERYN"

The alien returned sometime later. Crichton was lying curled up on the narrow bed that had been placed in the cell. He continued to stare at the wall, ignoring the other occupant of the room.

"Explain to me why I should not have you executed immediately Crichton?" John turned very deliberately to look him in the eye.

"If you've already killed Aeryn you might as well just get it over and done with now. I don't want to go on living without her."

"You are a strange being John Crichton. You look so much like a Peacekeeper but you do not behave like any Peacekeeper we have ever encountered."

"How many times do I have to tell you people that I'm not a Peacekeeper. Where have you guys been? I mean I know we're deep in tormented space, but you guys must have the alien equivalent of CNN or the Internet. Check out the news stories. I'm famous for destroying things that belong to the Peacekeepers. I've blown up one of their secret gammak research bases and destroyed a full command carrier. Believe me, these guys are really pissed off with me. I'm not particularly popular with the Scarrens either 'cos I just nuked their headquarters. And if you read the stories well enough you'll know that I'm always accompanied by a renegade Peacekeeper by the name of Aeryn Sun. There are Peacekeeper wanted beacons all over the galaxy for us. So unless you've been hibernating for about a billion cycles, quit with the "you must be a Peacekeeper spy" crap and just do what you have to do." He returned to staring at the wall and the alien left.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Aeryn Sun opened her eyes slowly. She had been returning to consciousness for some time, but like a good soldier had remained seemingly asleep while she assessed the noises around her without alerting her captors. She judged that there were about three people in the room. They hardly talked but she could hear the whirr of equipment and their feet as they moved. She was lying on some sort of bed to which her feet and hands were strapped. As her eyes adjusted to the light she observed the other occupants of the room. They were of a species unknown to her, but all in all she considered that to be a plus; her main fear was that they had been re-captured by the Scarrens. Suddenly, one of the consoles started beeping as it picked up on her eye movement and increased brain activity. Two of the aliens who were obviously guards stood to attention, their weapons trained on her. The tech alien came over to her.

"Name, rank and regiment, Peacekeeper," he almost spat with loathing

"My name is Aeryn Sun, but I'm not a Peacekeeper"

"I find that hard to believe; your genetics and physiology would say otherwise"

"I used to be one but I left four cycles ago"

"Left? Peacekeepers don't just leave"

"They do if they're deemed irreversibly contaminated"

"Then they're executed. They don't leave"

"Well I escaped." 

Another alien had entered the room during this conversation. He was obviously of higher rank as the tech immediately deferred to him. Aeryn tried to withhold her surprise when his face opened up. He continued the interrogation

"Did you escape with the other one, the non-sebacean you were with?"

"Yes, with John Crichton. We have no more love for the Peacekeepers than you obviously do. They have been attempting to re-capture and eliminate us for the last four cycles." She took a deep breath and asked him the question that was uppermost in her mind. "Look, what did you do to us when you took us from the boat? I'm pregnant and I want to know if my baby is alright"

"The child continues to grow well. You should be thankful for him. We usually terminate Peacekeepers immediately, but we have never encountered one pregnant with a child that is not fully sebacean"

"No, I don't suppose you have," she retorted then stopped to think about what he had said for a microt. "Did you say him?"

"Yes, we believe that it is a male child. Did you not know?"

"No. Somehow I'd always imagined it was a girl," she said absently, looking down at her finger and realising her ring was missing.

"You mentioned John. Where is he?"

"The child belongs to him" It was a statement rather than a question. " I want to understand why you are with him"

"Why?"

"So that we can decide whether or not you need to be terminated"

Aeryn was dozing. Once she knew the baby and John were safe she was content to spend some time recouping her energies and surreptitiously observing their captors to work out any means of escape. There was a whoosh of the door as the senior alien returned. He motioned to the tech to release the restraints on Aeryn's arms and legs and then beckoned her up. She got gingerly to her feet as the blood returned to her limbs. As he left she padded after him, a guard on either side. They reached another door and as it slid open the alien beckoned her through and then the panel slid shut behind her. John was lying on the bed with his back to her.

"Why don't you just go away and leave me alone dickhead"

"That's not a very nice thing to say to the woman who just agreed to marry you!" He had turned and staggered from the bed in an instant. She was enveloped in a tight embrace.

"Oh baby, thank God your alive. I thought they'd killed you" John, emotional man that he was, cried unashamedly

"John, careful, you're going to do the job quite nicely yourself if you don't let me go"

"Sorry, babe. I didn't mean to hurt you, its just I'm so relieved"

"I know, but I'm a little more fragile than usual at the moment, remember"

"Yeah, I almost forgot about the precious cargo you're carrying. I take it the baby's OK?"

"He's fine"

"He's fine! Did you say he?"

"According to our new, er, friends, we're going to have a son. Does that please you?"

"Sweetheart, I wouldn't care if the baby was blue with yellow spots as long as you're both safe and healthy"

"I should think you would care if he was blue, John, because that would mean he definitely wasn't yours" 

They fell laughing and kissing on to the bed. The pent up emotion of the last arns spilled over into passion. Neither cared that the aliens were probably watching. Clothes were soon gone as they clamoured to explore each other's body again. John couldn't remember a time when making love to Aeryn had seemed so sweet, not even that first time after their post-Talikka reunion when they had made love on the floor of the transport pod in an attempt to hide from Scorpy. May be it was the commitment they had made to each other in that boat, may be it was that they were in yet another situation where either or both of them could soon die, but they made love with no barriers between them and with a tenderness that spoke of many years to come. Afterwards they lay sated in each other's arms, limbs still entwined.

"Wow, that's one for a late night drinking session with D'Argo. Most unusual place you've ever had sex; in a prison cell with a bunch of aliens looking on. Beats my last entry of on top of Sally Thomson's washer during a spin cycle by miles." She gave him a playful slap

"If you talk about our love life with D'Argo I'll shoot your mivonks off"

"Yeah, like you wouldn't discuss it with Chiana." She gave him a look. "May be you're right. I'd hate to think what Chiana's entry to that particular competition might be." They lay quietly for a few minutes thinking of their friends back on Moya and wondering what they were doing, if they even knew they were still alive.

"John, I'm sorry, but I've lost the ring you gave me"

"Don't worry about it babe. I don't care as long as you're safe."

"But it was your mother's"

"I know, but the important thing was that you said yes and I got to put it on your finger. We'll find it again or I'll get you another one"

"We have to get out of here first"

"Yeah, we need to start working on a plan but my mind's not really on the job," he said as he nuzzled her neck.

"Pay attention, John. What do you make of these aliens? I've never come across the species"

"That's probably because no Peacekeepers have survived to tell the tale"

"I know and yet I don't sense any real threat from them. It's as if they just want to study us"

"Much as being a zoo exhibit is better than pushing up daisies, I'm not real fond of the idea on a permanent basis"

"If I knew what you were talking about, John, it would help"

"I want to escape and get back to Moya as soon as possible"

"I do too. Why didn't you just say that?"

"Cos you look gorgeous when you're confused" she was going to protest that his mind was wandering again but was distracted by his equally wandering hands.


	4. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

The remaining crew of Moya stood silently in the maintenance bay all looking down at the boat and the crystal remains of Aeryn Sun and John Crichton. Chiana couldn't see the boat but she wept in Noranti's arms. Noranti's third eye glowed brightly. D'Argo broke the silence. He wiped tears from his face and after a loud sniff said

"I can't believe that they're dead. Why would they just kill them with no warning? There just doesn't seem to be …..enough" he gestured at the crystals

"We have to face it D'Argo, they're gone," replied Chiana in a voice laced with tears

"Not dead, alive, not dead, not dead" muttered Stark

"What are you wittering about you frellnik?" demanded an exasperated Rygel

"I can't sense them at all. Their souls have not crossed over"

"Why am I always surrounded by half wits?" asked Rygel of no one in particular. Noranti suddenly spoke

"Both D'Argo and Stark are right. There doesn't seem enough remains to indicate that they are dead," and so saying she scooped up a handful of the crystals before anyone could stop her and headed for the med bay, followed by Stark and D'Argo, one muttering and one shouting. 

Rygel and Chiana remained behind, both silently remembering their friends. Suddenly something caught Rygel's eye. He moved his throne sled forward and picked it up. It was the ring that Crichton had given to Aeryn.

"What is it Ryge? What are you doing?

"I've found the ring that Crichton gave to Aeryn." Chiana screamed and threw herself in what she thought was Rygel's direction. She scored a direct hit.

"Get a grip, girl. I wasn't going to steal it. Even I couldn't bring myself to do that"

"You expect me to believe you?"

"Here you have it. We'll take it together to Crichton's quarters and leave it there. It should be kept with his other things"

"How do I know that you won't sneak back and take it"

"I was there when he died the last time. We always joked about me not having his stuff after he'd gone" Chiana could tell by his voice that the dominar was deeply affected by the loss of his friends.

"We'll avenge them, Ryge"

"Revenge won't bring them back" he replied morosely

"No, but it might make us feel a bit better"

In the med bay Noranti was brewing up some sort of concoction. She tasted it spat it our then mixed in the crystals. After a few microts she examined the mixture carefully.

"The crystals are mainly composed of organic materials" she announced. D'Argo hung his head. Despite his scepticism and knowing that they were both a few denches short of a metra, he had clung to the hope that Noranti's and Stark's raving had instilled in him, and could almost have believed that his friends were still alive.

"That's it then. They're gone"

"No. The organic material corresponds to the same make up of their clothing. I can find no trace of anything that corresponds to their bodies"

"Nothing?"

"Nothing" 

"Not dead, not dead"


	5. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

The crew were in the galley discussing the results of Noranti's analysis.

"So let me get this straight" said Chiana "On the basis of a complete frellnik's dren-faced ramblings and some weird experiment involving granny gobbing on a bunch of the crystals, we now believe that John and Aeryn are not dead. We think that what we have here is just what's left of their clothes and that they were just spirited away by that alien blast and are now somewhere else. Is that the gist of the situation 'cos I wouldn't want anyone to be confused or just a tiny bit sceptical"

"That's about it" replied Stark

"Do we have any idea where somewhere else might be?" Chiana ignored him and continued questioning

"Not really. Pilot's still a bit woozy and his link to Moya is not great yet but he can't find any trace of any life on this planet or any of the others within range." D'Argo answered her question. He had been filled with hope by Noranti's pronouncement, but Chiana's reasonable caution had started to quash that hopeful feeling again.

"So for all we know, John and Aeryn may very well be dead. Just dead somewhere else that we don't know about"

"Yes they might be, Chiana, but they might equally as well be alive and therefore we owe it to them not to give up hope. You know that if it was the other way around John wouldn't give up hope of finding us; look how he was when the Scarrens took Aeryn"

"You're right D'Argo, you're absolutely right," she said, softly caressing one of his tentacles. "I'm sorry to be sceptical, but it's difficult to find a way forward when you can't see; literally. Any ideas of where the frell we start looking?"

"It occurs to me that we need help with this one and we do have one source of help that would be very willing to help retrieve John Crichton under any circumstances" Rygel spoke up

"Rygel, I can't believe that you would suggest that we deliberately involve Scorpius in this," replied D'Argo not making any pretense of not understanding who Rygel was referring to.

"Why not? He now has a command carrier at his disposal and he has shown to us that he wants to protect Crichton, not harm him, until he gets that wormhole knowledge"

"It's not the idea of Scorpius that bothers me, it's what we might have to promise to give him in return"

"If you worried about your conscience Luxan, I'm happy to do the negotiation. I'm used to making promises that I have no intention of delivering on. It's what being a politician is all about." The small Hynerion and the huge Luxan stared at each other, but the fleeting animosity soon disappeared in a silent recognition that they were both partially right.

"I suggest we vote. All those in favour of contacting Scorpius to help find Crichton and Aeryn." D'Argo, Rygel and Chiana raised their hands. Stark couldn't decide and kept putting his hand up then down again. Noranti abstained as a matter of principle. "Pilot?" queried D'Argo.

"Moya and I vote to contact Scorpius as we can see no other way of quickly locating Commander Crichton and Officer Sun"

"That's decided them. Pilot, initiate the communication" ordered the ship's captain.

****

Author's note: You may have noticed that I have singularly failed to explain anything about the weapon used to "transport" Crichton and Aeryn. I would like to put forward three possible reasons for this omission: 1) in true Farscape fashion I want to leave a number of questions unanswered; 2) I'm going to bring it in to later chapters or 3) to quote D'Argo "she was vague to the point that I suspect that she doesn't have a clue". I leave it to you to figure out which is the real reason!!


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ****

Commissioner Listrac had called a meeting in her quarters with Braca and Scorpius to discuss the plan for re-capturing Moya and her crew. Scorpius was the picture of relaxed unconcern as he sat across the table from the Commissioner, a smile of polite interest on his face. However, Braca could tell that he was tense; he had been becoming more and more so since Listrac had come on board. She was obviously someone he respected, but Braca had begun to suspect that the half-breed was also a little afraid of her, a fact that made Braca feel all the more nervous as he wondered what the outcome would be of the inevitable clash between his erstwhile commander and this enigmatic, but obviously ruthless female.

"What was the last known location of the leviathan?" Listrac suddenly demanded of Braca, breaking into his reverie

"Er, we informed them of the information gleaned from Katratzi that the Scarrens were going to attack earth"

"And you gave them this confidential information because?.." The question hung in the air. Braca squirmed somewhat in his seat. Fortunately Scorpius picked up the baton

"I used it to try and persuade Crichton to make a pact with the Peacekeepers"

"Which he obviously refused to do. Yet another attempt to coerce Crichton that has failed! We know Crichton is extremely protective of his planet. Presumably he made an attempt to stop the Scarrens by using his control of wormholes?"

"I think that most likely. It would appear that Crichton was successful in stopping them otherwise we would have heard about the Scarren's success by now. The Scarrens probably obtained the location of the wormhole to earth when we were on Katratzi. That wormhole would seem a good place to start looking for them. "

"I agree, but I want to make it very clear what our objective is with this mission. We all know that a war with the Scarrens is inevitable. It is now just a matter of when rather than if. Commandant Grayza's ill-advised attempt at a treaty with the Scarrens was doomed to failure before it started; war minister Aknar is not to be trusted, except to do something that will better her own ambitions and Staleek is too wily to make any promises he intends to keep with anyone other than the high commissioner. That being the case we must stop this endless waste of resource on the capture of John Crichton and the escaped prisoners and put a stop to the embarrassment to the Peacekeepers that they continuously seem to cause. Whilst the war is coming, we don't want to hasten it and Crichton appears to be a catalyst for unfortunate confrontations with the Scarrens which we must also put a stop to. Obtaining the wormhole knowledge is secondary." This last was said with a deliberate stare towards Scorpius

"We mustn't let the Scarrens get it!" Scorpius became very obviously agitated for a moment

"Yes, that is a given," she acknowledged "but we can ensure that they don't obtain it by eliminating John Crichton. If he won't co-operate then he and his associates must be eradicated quickly"

"The Scarrens may have another way of obtaining the wormhole information. Aeryn Sun is pregnant with a child that may very well be Crichton's. The Scarrens claim to have the technology to extract knowledge from foetal DNA"

"I am aware of their technology. We have developed something similar, so this is also a potential source of the information for us"

"We have? I wasn't aware of it!" Scorpius was surprised into replying. Listrac gave him an assessing look

"I'm glad that there are still some Peacekeeper secrets that are unknown to you Scorpius." The unwritten message was clear; She knew about his relationship with Staleek. He took a steadying breath to re-gain some of his control.

"The foetal DNA may provide all the relevant technical information that we still require, but I have learned from observing Crichton with wormholes that a lot of the understanding of how to control them comes from his feelings and intuition, not just from the technical equations that we might obtain from the DNA"

"So our first priority must be to persuade Crichton to give us his knowledge, otherwise we eliminate him quickly so the Scarrens can't obtain his knowledge. As a secondary option we can use Aeryn Sun's child to obtain as much information on wormholes as possible, but she and the other escaped prisoners must be eliminated as well"

"Surely we need to confirm whether the child is Crichton's first, Sir?" questioned Braca

"Captain Braca, it was your own ship's surgeon who carried out the DNA analysis and released the embryo from stasis. We now know that Aeryn Sun is carrying John Crichton's son"

"I'm sorry Sir, but I wasn't aware of that as I am not able to access any of the confidential medical records"

"You might not be able to, but I am." 

Scorpius began to wander if there was anything that this woman didn't know. How he wished he was able to probe her mind, although he suspected that she would be extremely resistant to any interrogation. He could learn nothing from her energy signal, although there was something strangely familiar about it that he couldn't quite put his finger on. She was beginning to rise, obviously signaling that the discussion was at an end.

"I suggest that you set a course for the wormhole to earth, Captain Braca"

"Yes, Sir, but wouldn't it be quicker to go there in your ship, Sir?"

"Undoubtedly Captain, but this is it's maiden voyage and at this time the supreme council wishes to keep this new design as secret as possible. It will remain here." Turning to Scorpius she said "Scorpius, send the Kalish defector Sikozu to me"

"She is not a prisoner to be interrogated, Commissioner"

"I am very well aware of her status on this ship," she paused significantly, conveying a wealth of displeasure by simple silence, then continued, a polite smile on her face "I merely wish to speak with her about the leviathan and its crew. She spent a considerable amount of time with them did she not?" Her rather mobile right eyebrow lifted in polite surprise that her order was not immediately complied with. How this confrontation might have ended was not to be known as a guard appeared at that moment to whisper something in Braca's ear

"Sir, Ma'am, I mean, Sir"

"Oh, spit it out Captain"

"We have received a message from the crew of the leviathan. They wish to discuss a "situation" with Scorpius"

"Really? What type of situation?"

"I don't know. It is the Hynerian prisoner. He refuses to speak to anyone except Scorpius"

As Scorpius entered the command centre of the carrier Rygel's face filled the central view screen

"Dominar Rygel" Scorpius inclined his head politely, inviting Rygel to speak. Sikozu appeared quietly by his side, eager to hear what her erstwhile shipmate had to say

"I see that you are both well" began Rygel "Who would have thought she would be so stupid!" he said to on one in particular but just because he didn't like to be kept waiting

"What can we help you with Dominar?"

"I have some information that may interest you. Approximately two solar days ago Crichton and Aeryn were shot by an unknown alien ship. We thought they were dead but an analysis of the remains shows that their bodies are not there, so we are assuming that these people have some means of matter transportation. However, we haven't been able to find any trace of Crichton and Aeryn or their captors"

"And what do you expect of me?"

"I would have thought that was obvious Scorpius! Crichton is missing somewhere. He could have been taken by anyone. Even now the Scarrens could be torturing him for his wormhole knowledge. He destroyed another one of their ships you know; sealed up the wormhole to earth to stop them attacking his planet for their frelling flowers!"

Scorpius thought for a few microts. Off to the side, unseen by Rygel, Listrac gave him a discreet nod.

"Give us your co-ordinates Rygel and any information you have on Crichton's captors. We will be with you as soon as we can."


	7. Chapter 6

****

Chapter 6

Crichton's face held a look of determined concentration as he carefully carved a heart around the "John 4 Aeryn" he had embedded in the wall with one of their eating utensils. After their emotional reunion they had spent several arns sleeping a little and just talking through all the things they never seemed to have enough time to talk about. They had both been separately interrogated again about their associations with the Peacekeepers and then the aliens had questioned them together. Now, two days in to their captivity, boredom had set in until John had started on this project to brighten up the décor a couple of arns ago. He looked down at Aeryn and grinned. She was equally carefully carving flowers around his heart with her tongue caught between her teeth in studied concentration: who would have thought he'd see the day when Miss bad-ass Peacekeeper commando would be happy drawing flowers! After a little while they sat back to admire their handiwork.

"So tell me again why we're doing this, John"

"Back on earth, when I was in high school and I'd just started going out with girls, you would write this sort of thing on the cover of your school books. Actually, it was mainly the girls that put it on the covers of their notebooks, us guys tended to be a bit more circumspect and put it on the inside cover unless our current girlfriend was like the hottest babe in the school! At that age being hung up on just one girl wasn't particularly cool. Of course, my heart really belonged to Debbie Harry at the time"

"Yes I think I saw her on the Muppet Show; hmm, blond, pretty. What about Cher?"

"Oh no, I didn't really appreciate her until later. Much later in fact, like when I saw you in that purple outfit"

He had just started to carve a "Crichton was here" on one of the other walls when the door panel slid back and the head alien entered the room.

"Hey, dickhead, how's it hanging?" Crichton cried in friendly fashion. They had decided that, as their captors seemed to be taking their time over any decision on their future, co-operation was the best policy. Aeryn eyed John nervously; she wasn't sure a full frontal dose of Crichton bonhomie would go down well with this particular species. However, their captor seemed to take it in good part and motioned them through the door.

"Oh great, must be time for exercise duty. Twice round the yard; last one back to the cell's a sissy." Aeryn looked apologetically at the alien

"I'm really sorry. If it helps I don't have any idea what he's talking about most of the time either"

"He really is a very strange being." She looked at Crichton's departing back fondly

"Yes, but he's worth it"

They weren't in fact going for any exercise, but were shown into a room much larger than any they had seen previously. It contained a large table that perhaps a dozen of the strange aliens were sitting around. Dickhead (Crichton now couldn't think of him as anything else and as he didn't know his real name had decided this one fitted) sat in the vacant chair in the middle and indicated two seats for them on the opposite side. John sobered somewhat as he realised the moment of truth had arrived. He took Aeryn's hand in a tight grip.

"John Crichton and Aeryn Sun, we have considered your case carefully. Based on the evidence provided by you and the information we have gleaned from outside sources, we have concluded that you are not Peacekeepers or Peacekeeper spies and should not be terminated" 

"Thanks, thanks very much, we really appreciate it. Now if you could just drop us back at our ship we'll get out of your hair," said John, a relieved grin on his face

"Whilst you will not be terminated, we cannot let you leave. You know too much about us. You can live but you must remain here indefinitely"

"But we've deliberately not found out anything about you. We don't even know what species you are or where we are" interrupted Aeryn

"That's as may be Aeryn Sun, but we cannot take the risk. You both appear to be fugitives from the Peacekeepers, as well as the Scarrens. If we let you go and you are captured by either of them you may be forced to reveal what you know about us under torture"

"Believe me, you are the last thing either of those guys are going to be interested in if they manage to get hold of us"

"Our decision is final. Further argument would be fruitless. That's unless you wish to choose death?" At Crichton's look of alarm he continued, "I thought not. I do not believe that you will be unhappy here with us. We have a similar cultural structure to that which you describe exists on your earth. We also form monogamous life-long unions such as the pair of you wish to enter into. You will be able to live here in peace and raise your child in safety." John was going to protest further, but a yank on his arm from Aeryn stopped him

"Thank you, you are most gracious in your hospitality to us," she said with a forced smile.

"Resistance is futile. You have been assimilated by the Borg," John muttered under his breath, as they were lead away. Aeryn gave him a pointed stare that said "shut up or you'll get us killed".

They weren't taken back to the cell but to another part of the complex. As they walked John checked for any windows or other openings that might give them a hint on their location, but there were none so he still had no idea where they were. The area they were taken to seemed to be living quarters for the people in the complex. They were shown to a suite of rooms; a reasonably large living area, a bedroom and a bathroom, but still no view of the outside. The rooms were very sparsely furnished but definitely a step up from the cell.

"These will be your quarters" said the guard and left them

"And we'd just re-decorated the other place, but I suppose it's an improvement. They obviously got a job lot of 'dull grey' on special from Home Depot. Man, I wish I had my TV with me"

"What are we going to do?"

"Not a clue just yet. We don't know where we are. I haven't seen any ships, exits or any other method of escape. We're just going to have to bide our time for the right moment" he slid his hands around her waist and gestured his head in the direction of the bedroom, which at least had a double bed in comparison with the narrow bed they had been sleeping on up until now.

"You should get some sleep," he said

"I didn't think that was what you had in mind"

"I was talking about afterwards"

When they awoke the next day they found that they could leave the rooms quite easily. An alien posted outside their door showed them to what seemed to be the mess hall where they were provided with food under the curious gaze of the other aliens. They were even able to wander about the complex, but always under the watchful eye of at least a pair of guards and if they went near any sensitive areas they were immediately, if politely, turned away. They learned that this was a military compound and the reason for the lack of windows was that it was deep underground where sensors from any passing ships could not penetrate. There were other civilian colonies also underground on this and another near-by planet. However, as much as they learned there was still no obvious means of escape. Back in their quarters that night, Aeryn searched for surveillance devices; she found two in the main living area and one in the bedroom, which Crichton found a little disconcerting after the previous night

"Hope they weren't rating me on my performance"

"Surely you need to worry more about my rating John?" replied Aeryn with a smirk

"Honey, I could tell you had me down as a 5.9 for technical merit and straight 6's for artistic impression"

She just snorted in reply and dragged him into the tiny bathroom. 

"There's no device in here"

"Yeah, but it won't be as comfortable as the bed"

"John, if you could just drag your mind away from the general area of your mivonks for a microt, we need to talk about our situation! We can't stay here John; we'll go mad. We have to come up with some plan of escape"

"Yeah, I sort of agree Aeryn, but we ought to think carefully about it. I mean it's as boring as hell, but at least no one is chasing our asses all over the place here. We have to consider it, Aeryn; it's not just us now remember" he said, gently rubbing her stomach. "It's safe here. If they even know we're still alive, I doubt if anyone knows where we are. We should at least think about staying until the baby's born."

"No John, I've fought too hard for this child for him to be born a captive," She said fiercely. He sighed wistfully

"You're right. You're absolutely right, as usual. I suppose it was just wishful thinking on my part that we could have a quiet life for a while. No one hounding us all over the galaxy, but come to think of it I think I'd rather be hounded on Moya than peacefully wasting away in this grey heaven. You gotta plan?"

"Not yet, but I know that it will have to be as quiet and surreptitious as possible. We can't give them any cause for suspicion and if we leave any clues as to where we've gone they'll come after us."

"Hmm, and then it'll be beam me up Scotty time again with no mercy shown this time"

"Besides, they haven't actually hurt us; it would be nice if we could return the compliment for once"

"Yeah, not like the usual trigger-happy psychos we attract!"

Over the next few days they surreptitiously observed the movements of the various troops. They finally figured out where the landing bay was; Aeryn even asked if she might see one of the ships that they had been retrieved with. The request was denied, but Crichton was more successful in his request for them to see how they knew that Moya had landed on the sea. They were taken to a command centre where various monitors showed the planets and surrounding space.

"This is the Quajagan Sea." Dickhead was acting as their guide. The display showed a vast nothing of blue ocean

"Is our ship still there?" John asked

"No, it left the planet one solar day ago. It is currently in orbit above a neighbouring planet." The display switched to a view of space. They were able to pick out Moya as she orbited a small red planet. Seeing her, Crichton felt a lurch of homesickness and knew he had to increase their efforts to escape. They feigned polite interest, but other than finding out that Moya was still in the vicinity and that these guys had a very sophisticated surveillance system which would be difficult to bypass, they didn't learn anything else that really helped plan their escape. As he seemed in an expansive mood, however, Aeryn though it was worth probing Dickhead a little further.

"Why do you hate the Peacekeepers so much?"

"Almost a thousand cycles ago our people inhabited six planets of this system. A Peacekeeper exploratory force found us. We were a peaceful, independent race with a thirst for new knowledge and contact with other species. We attempted to work with them but they refused. They just wanted to subjugate us to Peacekeeper control. We could never accept that and were forced to take action to prevent our people's enslavement. None of the Peacekeepers survived to get any message back to their world about our presence, but our worlds were largely destroyed. Quajaga was our main planet but the weapons used during that war altered the climate and caused the ice at the polar caps to melt and the planet was completely flooded. Now there is nothing left of the Quajaga we once knew; it is entirely covered by sea. The remnants of the race retired to underground cities on this neighbouring planet and have remained undetected by the Peacekeepers since. We learnt a hard lesson that alien races are not to be trusted and we have vowed not to make the same mistake again.

Aeryn was acutely uncomfortable by this history but she thought that she had never come across a more paranoid race. Their whole existence seemed to be dominated by the need to remain secret. She didn't get a chance to question further because just as he was concluding his story klaxons and alerts began to sound all around them. They turned to the visual display again, just in time to see a Peacekeeper command carrier glide into orbit close to Moya. The alien turned towards them. His face had opened out to reveal all his eyes and his voice was laced with anger as he shouted at them

"This is your doing. You have lied to us. You are peacekeeper spies and have brought them on us again. Guards, seize them"

"No, no, we knew nothing about this. We told you we're fugitives; they've just managed to find our ship again, that's all." Even as she said this, Aeryn knew they stood no chance in the face of this species overwhelming paranoia about the Peacekeepers.


	8. Chapter 7

****

Chapter 7

Four guards headed towards Crichton and Aeryn

"You know the non-violence idea…"

"Just went out the window"

The guards really didn't stand a chance; the pair struck while they were still readying their weapons. A pantak jab, side kick and well-aimed knee and Aeryn had dealt with hers. John downed one with a right hook and the other with a couple of moves Aeryn had taught him. They made it out of the command centre and started heading for the landing bay. They hadn't got far before more guards blocked their way, this time armed with pulse rifles at the ready

"Oh crap, where is Winona when you need her?"

"Quick, John, through here" Aeryn grabbed him and dragged him through a side door, then another. They made it to another corridor, only to see more troops coming towards them. Diving into the next room they found themselves in what looked like the main computer control room; it was filled with banks of equipment, wires spewing everywhere and lights winking. 

"Wait a minute, Aeryn, I got an idea. Block the door so they can't get in"

"With what?"

"I dunno, use your imagination," she looked sceptical "come on, hon, work with me here. This could be a good plan." She just rolled her eyes and started to drag a console in front of the door while John headed for what he guessed was the main computer control bank.

"Ahh, this is gonna hurt!" He took a deep breath and kicked the casing as hard as he could. The casing crumpled under the impact and his foot sank into the highly charged back of wires; sparks flew out in all directions. Thankful that the boots he was wearing seemed to have rubber soles, he kicked it again and again. Aeryn came and joined him, wielding a metal bar she had used to smash the door controls. She readied herself the start to help with smashing the machine

"No, babe, I'll use that," he said, taking the bar from her "don't want you getting any electrical shocks in your condition." 

After a few more microts there was an almighty bang and all the lights went out and the klaxons stopped. They could hear shouting from outside, the sound of many running feet and people stumbling and cursing as they ran into objects, walls and each other. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, John jumped onto one of the consoles and removed a grill he had spotted in the ceiling before the lights went out.

"Thank God for air conditioning vents!" he said as he pulled Aeryn through

"Alright, John, what now? We're in a narrow tunnel, it's pitch black and we have no idea where we are or what direction to go in"

"I love it when a plan comes together, don't you? Let's take a leaf out of D'Argo's book," he said as he sniffed loudly "I'd say that was either the sewers or the mess hall; definitely smells like that uneatable dren they served up for dinner yesterday." Another sniff "the other direction is definitely a better prospect." They headed off in the direction he indicated, crawling along on hands and knees, although this was hampered by the slimy surface of the tunnel.

"I do not want to see what we are crawling through"

"Shut up and move your eema, Crichton" 

After a while Crichton's mood brightened

"Is it just me or can you smell cesium fuel?"

"Yes, down to the right"

They found another vent and peered through; not much was visible except the shadowy movements of people running to and fro, shouting orders and instructions to each other

"I can't believe they don't have an automatic back up system for the power"

"Probably not expecting any attack from within"

One poor unfortunate guard happened to stop for a microt under their vent. Crichton dropped down on him, instantly knocking him unconscious. He grabbed the guard's pulse rifle and turned to help Aeryn, but she had already jumped through beside him. They had successfully made it to the landing bay. Rows of black ships were lined up on the other side of the building to them. The only problem was the myriad of troops between them and the ships.

"I'm going to make a run for it, cover me," Aeryn whispered to him and before he could stop her, she had started off in the direction of the nearest ship. Unfortunately, at that moment the lights came back on. There was a moment when everyone stopped to assess where they were and adjust to the bright light, including Aeryn, but the soldiers quickly recovered. The nearest one to her raised the alarm 

"There is one of the prisoners, seize her!" Aeryn threw herself over and behind a nearby pile of metal containers. John, cursing under his breath, opened fire and ran after her, pulse rifle blazing 

"Will you quit throwing yourself about like that, remember the baby"

"What was I supposed to do? Let them shoot me or re-capture me?" she replied furiously

John ignored this comment and stood up, returning the fire of their attackers. They moved in unison towards their goal, Crichton in front firing the rifle and Aeryn matching him stride for stride. They made it to one of the black ships and quickly climbed in. Aeryn jumped into the pilot's seat while John stayed by the door and shot at anyone who tried to approach.

"You know how to fly this guppy, honey?"

"No frelling idea!" she started looking at the switches

"We haven't go all day here, Aeryn"

"Just a microt. Let's try this and then this one" she flicked a couple of switches and the machine came to life

"I never doubted you for a minute, babe"

"We're not out of this yet" She grasped the controls and manoeuvred the ship off it's moorings. It was obviously still tethered to them, but Aeryn just increased the power and pulled away. Soldiers were firing at them uselessly; they had obviously fitted a good defence shield to their ships. Aeryn found the controls to the guns and started to fire back. Turning the ship carefully in the landing bay she shot their attackers and the other ships to try and prevent any pursuit. She then sped the ship away through what she assumed was the launch tube. In a few microts they shot out of the tube into the bright light of the planet's surface.

"Yeee haa! Can I get a hell yeah!"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Scorpius and Sikozu were greeted in the cargo bay by all that remained of Moya's crew. Scorpius had persuaded Listrac that it was best not to raise the crew's level of concern at this stage and that only he should make the initial contact, as they had requested. She had agreed with his logic and allowed him to head for Moya with just Sikozu for company

"Friends" he said that nasty smile on his face and arms spread wide in greeting "It's good to be back on Moya." D'Argo hissed and tossed his head

"Don't ever insult me by claiming to be my friend"

"Now, now D'Argo, Scorpius is only being polite" Rygel tried to mediate "Welcome back on board to both of you"

"You are being very gracious Rygel. What do you want?" replied Sikozu with a sickly sweet smile. It was Rygel's turn to get angry

"Don't try and play games with me, tralk. I would have thought you would be happy to help someone who saved your skinny eema on any number of occasions"

"That's why I'm here Rygel; to help in the search for Crichton"

"I'm not talking about Crichton." He moved slightly so that they could see Chiana sitting on one of the containers, staring unseeingly at them

"Hey, nice to see ya!" she tried to joke but her laugh had a hollow ring

"We'll provide all we know of Crichton's capture in exchange for treatment for Chiana on the command carrier"

"That seems a reasonable exchange, dominar." Scorpius whispered something in Sikozu's ear. She pouted for a moment, a petulant look coming over her face, but complied with a smile after a further private word from her lover. She moved towards Chiana and started to help her down from the container

"Well Chi, why don't you come with me back to the command carrier and we'll see if the Peacekeeper med techs are as good as they think they are"

After Chiana and Sikozu had left the others moved to command and the serious discussion on what had happened to Crichton and Aeryn began. Almost immediately things got heated and tempers rose

"I can't understand why you didn't follow this ship in Lo'la" said Scorpius disparagingly

"And exactly how was I supposed to take off with Moya partly submerged and the cargo bay flooded, Mr Smarty pants?" D'Argo borrowed from Crichton's repertoire of insults

"I hate to interrupt," Pilot appeared on the clamshell "but one of the same type of craft that took Commander Crichton and Officer Sun has appeared on Moya's sensors and is heading towards us. At its current velocity I estimate that it will intercept us in 800 microts"

"Thank you Pilot. Can you put me through to the command carrier and also give us a visual display?"

They saw a lone ship heading towards them

"Braca"

"I see it, Scorpius. Launching Prowler squadron"

On board their stolen ship Crichton was checking for pursuers whilst Aeryn was wrestling with the controls

"This thing has the strangest frelling manoeuvrability control I've ever come across, but it's certainly quick"

"I'm presuming that is Braca and the Queen Mary" she nodded in assent "Oh, great that means Scorpy's in town. I hope Dickhead and his pals don't do anything stupid." He scanned the planet's surface while muttering under his breath like a mantra "Don't be stupid, don't launch any pursuit craft, don't be stupid." Their erstwhile captors obviously weren't getting his message as he could see a number of craft emerging from the tunnel they had just exited. "Uh oh, Billy no-brains day today." At that moment Aeryn spotted the Prowlers emerging from the command carrier and immediately swung the ship to the side, a move that sent John sprawling across the floor

"What was that for?" he said hanging on to the back of her seat as she continued to swing the ship back and forth

"This is a standard recognition manoeuvre. Hopefully they are good enough Prowler pilots to recognise it"

"And if they're not?"

"Well you had better either man the guns or find the comms very quickly"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. We're between a rock and a hard place here." He looked back and forth between the Prowlers racing towards them from the front and the other ships approaching from behind, then flicked some switches that looked like they might be a communications array

"Pilot, Pilot can you hear me? Please pick up the phone Pilot"

"Commander, is that you?" It seemed they were in luck as Pilot's voice echoed around the ship

"Bingo! Sure is old friend. Can you open up a channel to the command carrier but make it one that can also be picked up by long range surveillance?"

"Done Commander"

"You're the best, Pilot. Captain of the command carrier, this is John Crichton. I am in the ship currently being approached by your Prowlers. Please call them off my ship and any others like it that may be following. I repeat, please call off your Prowler squadron, Braca." He paused briefly "Dickhead, if you're listening, we're really sorry man. You know we're nothing to do with these guys but they just keep following us around. Call back your ships and we promise you'll be left alone. Moya and the command carrier will be out of this system before you can blink." He flicked the comms switch off, watching the Prowlers pull away and fly back towards the carrier. He held his breath. He judged that it was a matter of microts before their pursuers would be able to use their weapons including the transportation device, but a few moments later the other ships also turned for home

"Well that's either a job well done or another species who hate our guts enough to start chasing us about the galaxy"

"No, I think we'll be alright John. Their paranoia about us revealing their existence to the Peacekeepers will be outweighed by the worry that by leaving the safety of their system they may expose themselves to more danger of discovery"

"I hope you're right, babe. I'm having enough trouble coping with two major enemies, not sure I could withstand a third"

They landed the ship in the cargo bay. As Crichton jumped out he was engulfed in a huge Luxan bear hug

"What the hezmana happened to you? We thought you were dead"

"We don't really know D, one minute we were in the boat, the next thing I knew I woke up naked in a cell. God, it's good to be back safe and sound on Moya" he said looking around at his friends "Hey Sparky, how ya doin'?"

"Much better for seeing you, surprisingly"

"I didn't know you cared so much Buckwheat"

"I don't, but Noranti is already in the galley preparing a celebratory welcome home feast"

"Can't wait. Yo, nitro!" Stark waved from the corner of the cargo bay, grinning inanely at Aeryn

"Scorpius is here"

"Yeah, we figured"

"We're sorry, John, we couldn't think of anything else to do. When we figured out you were still alive we had no idea how to find you. The only good thing to come out of it is that Chiana is on the carrier getting treatment for her blindness"

"It's OK guys. I'm cool, especially if Chiana gets the peepers fixed for free. The command carrier turning up actually helped quite a lot. Gave us the cover we needed to break out and what's more we've acquired this ship. I can't wait to investigate their transporter; Mr Spock to the transporter room! But that can wait until after we've had a chance to wash and brush up" he indicated the slime from their crawl through the tunnel which was still clinging to his clothes.

They all headed off in their various directions. Crichton turned to leave when he suddenly found himself flat on his back with Aeryn sat squarely on his chest, pinning him to the floor

"Hey babe, now we're engaged and all I think you should know that I'm a sure thing; you don't need to jump my bones to get my attention"

"Listen to me, Crichton and listen to me well. If you intend to behave like you did back there until this baby is born then he will definitely be fatherless before birth. I'm pregnant not an invalid and I'm not about to sit back and take it easy in a fight, however much you might want me too, and especially not when both mine and the baby's lives are in danger. I'm going to do everything in my power to protect this child and if that means doing things you don't like, well you'll just have to put up with it"

"But honey, you're going to have to make some compensations for your condition. You just can't carry on like you used to. I'm only trying to help. I now it's the woman's job to protect the baby, but it's the man's job to protect his woman" he received a resounding slap across the face for this comment

"The day you can protect me better than I can protect myself…."

"OK, OK, so I didn't put that very well." Crichton knew he was handling this all wrong, even if Aeryn was being a little irrational. "I just love you both so much I want to keep you safe from any harm. Humour me here a little Aeryn"

"Well remember what I've said and try and curb you enthusiasm for over-protectiveness" she said huffily as she got off him and strode in the direction of their quarters, brushing past D'Argo angrily

"Woo, someone's got a very bad case of PMS," he said as he gave John a hand up

"Worse than PMS; pregnancy-induced hormone surge"

"The stasis has been released?"

"Yup, Aeryn's having a baby"

"Goddess help us, we're going to have to live with a trained assassin with violent mood swings"

"Well I'm prepared to put up with just about anything, bro, 'cos it's my baby she's having" John replied, a goofy grin spreading over his face

"Definitely yours?"

"Definitely mine. I'm gonna be a dad, D'Argo" if anything the grin got wider

"Congratulations John. I'm really pleased for you my friend," his smile was tinged with sadness as he thought of his own child "I hope you make a better job of it than I did"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up D. Those were circumstances beyond your control"

"When I had to abandon my son after his mother died or when he slept with the woman I wished to marry?"

"Both"

"Hmm, thanks for the words of comfort" he quickly changed to the subject to lighten the mood "Chiana is convinced that you asked Aeryn to marry you when you were on that boat"

"I did and she said yes, though I'm not too sure that still stands after the display just now"

D'Argo smiled his broadest smile and clapped his friend on the back heartily, almost knocking him over

"Marriage to Aeryn Sun. Your braver than you look"


	10. Chapter 9

****

Chapter 9

When he reached their quarters, John could hear the shower running. He stripped off his dirty clothes, not wanting to see the damn things that Dickhead had given him ever again. A small chirping sound behind him made him turn. He got down on his haunches and beckoned to the little machine that had obviously been hiding under his bed

"Hey 1812, come here boy. Think you and your buddies can get rid of these things? You can have some fun ripping them to shreds or burning them or whatever you little guys get off on." 1812 chirped excitedly in return which Crichton took as agreement. He headed to the shower to join Aeryn. Snaking his arms around her waist he whispered in her ear

"Sorry, babe"

"I'm sorry too, John"

Sometime later he was getting dressed: never had his own clothes felt so good! Rummaging around on one of the messy surfaces of the room he found Winona. Giving her a big kiss he strapped her to his thigh where she belonged

"Thank God my daddy taught me that you don't wear a gun when you're planning to make a marriage proposal!" His attention was caught by something sitting in the middle of the shelf; it was the ring box he thought he had lost in the Quajagan Sea. Opening it up he saw his mother's ring nestling in its velvet cushion

"John, have you seen my hairbraid?" Aeryn appeared behind him

"No, but I've found something much better." He moved to stand in front of her then dropped down onto one knee. She stared at him, a questioning look on her face

"I know I've already done it once, but I'm gonna do it again for good measure. Aeryn, I love you, will you be my wife?" She frowned at him for a matter of microts and his smile faltered. She kept up the pretence for a microt longer then her smile broke out

"Of course I will you drannit. You don't think I'm so fickle as to change my mind so quickly do you? I love you too and it will be my honour to be your wife" he smiled broadly with pleasure and relief

"You had me goin there for a bit, darlin," he said as he slid the ring onto her finger "now please God let it stay there this time; don't make me have to put it on a third time." He kissed her ring then lent forward and placed a gentle kiss on her stomach. She ran her hands through his hair and bent down to claim his mouth with hers.

"Ahhmm, I hate to interrupt whatever it is you were about to do, actually I'm quite glad I interrupted, but Noranti is about to serve up dinner" Rygel hovered in the doorway

"Congratulate us, Rygel, we just got engaged again"

"Again! I thought you would have thought better of it after the first time. You found the ring then? Chiana and I placed it where we thought you would find it"

"Your generosity at not stealing my property astounds me Rygel, but thanks anyway"

They were a very merry party for that meal, especially as Chiana and Sikozu appeared back in time for dessert. Chiana's vision was still blurred but improving rapidly. The only unfortunate thing was that the med techs could only synthesise tissue for sebacean eyes, so instead of her own black she now had eyes of a vivid green which D'Argo for one was having difficulty getting used to. But they still celebrated her cure, as well as John and Aeryn's return and also the other happy news of their pending marriage and new arrival. Not even Scorpy's presence could dampen John's joy at being back on Moya with Aeryn at his side, but he knew he would have to talk with him sooner or later. Deciding not to put it off any longer he went to the half-breed's quarters straight after dinner.

"So what do you want this time grasshopper?"

"What I always want John, your safety"

"Don't give me that BS. What have you got planned?"

"It's not what I have planned. There is another player in our game now, John"

"What, who have you made a deal with this time? Not Aknar? Does Staleek know? Is that a double cross or a triple cross or is it a double cross of your double cross? I've lost the plot on who you're currently serving. Oh I forgot, you only ever really serve yourself!"

"I have not made any deals, John and this new player is not someone I can currently control"

"Don't tell me Grayza has broken out of Braca's leash"

"Grayza is no longer in the equation"

"Temporarily or on a permanent basis?"

"A permanent basis, John, a very permanent basis. Peacekeeper High Command viewed her failure on Katratzi very dismally. Unfortunately, they sent one of their highest officers out here to meet out the appropriate punishment, which she did extremely efficiently. You and your friends are her next target"

"Bring her on. I'm not afraid. I've dealt with everything the Peacekeepers have thrown at me, even you"

"I think you'll find that this one is different, John. I have persuaded her that we need you alive at the moment to preserve the wormhole knowledge, but that is not going to work much longer. Do not under-estimate the determination of the Peacekeeper hierarchy to eradicate the threat they believe that you and your friends pose to their position against the Scarrens and their reputation in general. They would prefer that you were dead even without getting wormhole knowledge if it means that the Scarrens don't get it either, and now they have a new plan. They will kill you and Aeryn and take your child to extract the wormhole knowledge from its DNA" at John's staggered look he carried on "Oh yes, the Peacekeepers as well as the Scarrens can do it. You won't always be able to protect them, John. Put your trust in me and I will ensure that your family is safe forever!"

John made his way slowly back to his quarters, thinking over what Scorpy had said. Aeryn had told him about the Scarren's plan to extract DNA from the foetus but he hadn't really believed it, but somehow he didn't doubt that Scorpius was telling the truth.

"Hey, where did you slope off to?"

"I went to see Scorp" Aeryn could see that the meeting with Scorpius had affected him badly and her hackles immediately rose

"What did he do to you? What did he say? What's wrong John?"

"The Peacekeepers are stepping up the odds. Scorpy says they can extract the wormhole knowledge from foetal DNA as well as the Scarrens. Oh baby, they're gonna be after you and junior like there's no tomorrow and I'm not sure I can take that. Hell, I know I wasn't there at the conception but this baby is my child in every way that matters and you are the most important thing in my universe. It won't take the Peacekeepers or the Scarrens very long to get what they want and I don't know how we can stop them this time." She looked confused for a moment

"John, I thought, I, obviously not, I, oh frell, on the boat, I thought I was clear"

"You were certainly making more sense than you are now Aeryn. Clear about what?"

"I was so nervous about your reaction I can hardly remember what I said, but I mustn't have put it right. When I said the baby was yours I meant it in every sense of the word"

"You mean I was there at the conception?" he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper

"Those ancients and their false earth have so much to answer for" she replied softly as she stroked his hair. He looked incredulously at her so she carried on. "The surgeon on the command carrier was able to tell how long the foetus had been in stasis. He said it had been implanted for approximately three cycles which could mean only one thing: it's not his or yours; he's part of both of you; you can't know how happy that made me" 

"I think I can" he just grinned at her inanely. His brain wouldn't seem to work. Although he hadn't really cared about the child's conception as long as biologically it was his, this just made it all the better. As his brain started to function again he suddenly realised why this was so very important

"That means the baby was conceived before I got the wormhole knowledge implanted in my brain, so extracting it's DNA won't help anyone. I can't wait to see Scorpy's face when I tell him this one" A sudden thought occurred to him "I got you pregnant on our first time? Way to go fellas! Not bad for a supposedly deficient species, huh?"

"Hmm, typical of your rutting instincts"

"No, just pure, unadulterated, 100% prime American male!"

"Oh, please your testosterone storm is making me feel quite nauseous"

"I've got a cure for that" he said as he kissed her deeply.

The next day John took great delight in going back to Scorpy's quarters first thing

"Hey Scorp, I've got a news flash for you. The baby can't have any wormhole knowledge so you can all put your scalpels away" Scorpius looked at him questioningly. "Don't believe me? Then let me tell you about my relationship with Aeryn. It has been a long series of misunderstandings, errors and completely frelled up emotions since the day we met. Up until now, for every step forward we've taken at least three steps back. You know I told you about the false earth where I got the knowledge planted in my brain? Hell, you saw it for yourself in the aurora chair. Well, right before that happened, and I mean right before, Aeryn and me took a big leap forward, like to the promised land if you get my meaning. But being me and Aeryn we took several huge leaps backwards straight afterwards and after that we didn't, well er, you know, for, well, a long time. So to cut a long story short, junior was created on that false earth and missed out on wormholes by a matter of arns. If you don't believe me check it out with your surgeon, he was the one who told Aeryn about the timing of the conception. So, no go on the foetal DNA amigo, comprende?

"I comprehend perfectly, John, but this will only stop the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens pursuing Aeryn and the child. It won't protect you"

"I know, but I can take care of myself. Look Scorpy, I know you Peacekeeper types probably can't understand this, but my life is pretty good at the moment. People are not trying to kill me every day; pretty frequently, but not every day. And Aeryn and me are finally happy together. That probably doesn't mean much to you, but it means the world to me. We're getting married and we're gonna have a baby. Not surprisingly I'd like to keep things as they are. So now I'm making the rules. I'm telling you and I know that you'll be able to get a message through to your mate Staleek and whoever this new Peacekeeper chick is. I've been the victim too long. I'm not running scared anymore. I'm the one who can control wormholes, so hear this and hear it good: If any harm comes to me or mine, if so much as a hair on Aeryn's or our baby's head is harmed, so help me God I will bring down the wrath of wormholes on the perpetrator so fast they won't know what hit them. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly clear, John. Do you feel better now?

"I couldn't be better if Elvis turned up alive and well and living on Moya"

He turned to leave but before he could do so Moya lurched violently throwing both John and Scorpius to the floor. Pilot's screams could be heard echoing through the comms.

****

Author's note: I know you probably think the whole "false earth conception" thing is a bit trite, but I'm pretty convinced about it because a) so much pivotal to the whole series happened in that episode and b) why in The Choice did Aeryn keep seeing John as he was on the false earth? – must have been a subliminal message!!!

P.S. Thanks for all the feedback – will keep going (I'm too hooked on this story myself to give up now!)


	11. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

Crichton met D'Argo in the corridor as they both strode towards command to find out what was wrong

"Pilot? Pilot, what is happening?"

"Pilot's virtually unconscious, D'Argo," Aeryn's voice came over the comms "I can't get much sensible out of him, but I think it may have been an immobiliser pulse"

"What! Scorpius, what is Braca doing firing an immobiliser pulse at Moya?"

"It wasn't from the command carrier" Scorpius came up behind them as they entered command "it was from that" he indicated the sleek silvery-white vessel filling the view screen

"Wow, what is that?"

"It is the Peacekeeper's latest ship designed to replace the command carrier. This is currently the only one in existence and it happens to be under the command of Commissioner Listrac"

"She the one you were telling me about?"

Before Scorpius could do more than nod in assent a voice came over the comms. 

"Crew of the leviathan this is Peacekeeper ship Swift One. Your vessel is now under our control. You will be boarded momentarily. If you do not resist no harm will come to your ship or it's pilot"

"Don't give us much of a choice do they?"

"Let me try and find out what all this is about, John"

"You had better." He turned to gaze at the ship, noting that it was strategically placed between Moya and the command carrier. Whoever had ordered this attack had obviously planned it thoroughly. "I don't like this, I don't like it at all"

"Neither do I John," replied D'Argo "but I don't think we have any choice at the moment but to comply. We can't starburst away and if we attempted to get away on Lo'la, I'm pretty sure that thing would blast us to pieces the microt we left Moya."

"What about concealing ourselves on Moya and taking them out one by one, you know the Die Hard way, like we did with the Coreeshi?"

"They'll just send more troops and pull Moya apart"

"Then we could go down on a swing like Butch and Sundance"

"You forget that I've seen that movie now and I know how it ends. Not a particularly attractive option at the moment! Let's just go along with it for the time being. Something is bound to come up to save us. It always does"

The commissioner obviously wasn't taking any chances; a full company of commandos came on board and rounded up the occupants of Moya. They were separated and all taken off in different directions. Scorpius went directly to the commissioner in her quarters.

"What is the meaning of this, Commissioner?"

"Are you questioning my strategy, Scorpius?"

"No, of course not" he said placatingly "but I thought we had agreed that I would attempt to gain Crichton's co-operation without the need to resort to any use of force"

"You had your chance, Scorpius, now it's mine"

"I hardly had a chance commissioner, another solar day…"

"Don't play games with me Scorpius; you'll find I'm too old a hand to fall for your machinations. Can you honestly tell me you weren't planning to have the leviathan starburst away to keep Crichton for yourself?" They stared at each other for several moments and it was Scorpius who looked away first. The moment was broken by a discreet knock on the door. At Listrac's "come" a soldier entered leading a handcuffed Aeryn.

"Officer Sun, welcome" Listrac smiled at the stony face regarding her. She looked up at Scorpius who turned from regarding Aeryn to stare at her consideringly.

"I believe we have finished Scorpius. If you wouldn't mind…" Aeryn had the fleeting enjoyment of watching the half-breed be so summarily dismissed, but her pleasure was short-lived

"Well, Officer Sun. How do you like our new ship?"

"What I've seen of it is certainly very impressive, but a little cramped in comparison with a carrier"

"Yes, but then of course this ship only requires a complement of 20,000 crew instead of 50,000"

Aeryn didn't feel particularly intimidated by this woman, even though she was the most senior Peacekeeper she had ever met in the flesh, but she was very aware that her life, that of her child and probably those of John and the others depended on this woman. She decided that straight talking was the best option.

"Look this catch up on the latest peacekeeper gossip is all very nice, but what do you want from me?"

"I have an offer for you Officer Sun. Your record as a Prowler pilot before you were deemed irreversibly contaminated was exemplary. From the information I have seen your performance since then has certainly been interesting from the point of view of an intelligence officer. You have shown good strategic awareness and a decisiveness that I like. I am prepared to offer you a commission as a lieutenant in the intelligence service. The irreversible contamination and subsequent crimes will be expunged from your record. I will ensure that it becomes known that you were working for intelligence all the time in order to infiltrate the escaped prison ship and track John Crichton."

"And in return?"

"I would have thought that was obvious Officer Sun"

"I have a pretty good idea, but I want to hear it from you"

"Very well. In return you will persuade John Crichton to help the Peacekeepers build a wormhole weapon"

"And my child?" Listrac paused for a moment

"If Crichton fully complies you will be allowed to continue with the pregnancy and give birth to the child"

"But he won't be able to stay with me though, right?"

"You would be an officer in the intelligence service. That is hardly a role compatible with motherhood. The child would be raised in Peacekeeper service as you were. We would of course conceal the fact that he is not fully sebacean"

"No I didn't imagine being a mother would fit into this offer," she said, bitterness in her voice. "And if I can't persuade Crichton to comply, I presume a swift execution will be the result?"

"By rights you should have been immediately executed on capture for high treason against your oaths as a Peacekeeper, but these are exceptional circumstances and I will stay that execution for 6 arns. Crichton will be brought to you shortly." Obviously believing their conversation was at an end Listrac nodded to the guard who dragged Aeryn out of the room.

Crichton found himself tied to a chair in the middle of an otherwise empty room. Looking around he saw nothing that could help in any escape attempt, plus the added disadvantage of a couple of surveillance devices blinking ominously. There was a scraping sound as the heavy door opened. John looked up as a tall, redheaded woman dressed in a severe black uniform entered the room. He judged her to be about forty in earth terms but he had given up trying to guess sebacean ages. She reminded him of Aeryn, as she was when he first knew her, in the upright stance and steely-grey gaze, but the air of command was much more pronounced in this older woman. She walked around him, taking in his appearance for a few moments before speaking.

"Well, well, well, John Crichton. This is indeed a pleasure. I have heard so much about you; my curiosity was quite piqued. I must say that you are much less impressive than I had hoped for"

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure. You would be?"

"I believe that you'd probably refer to me as your worst nightmare. Let's just say I work in Peacekeeper intelligence"

"Peacekeeper intelligence? Isn't that an oxymoron?"

"Dear me, we do think we're funny don't we." At John's surprised look she said "yes that did translate and I hope this does." She came nose to nose with Crichton "Now I don't like being dragged out here, Crichton, to clear up the mess that seems to have been made by some of my colleagues in the name of getting our hands on your wormhole knowledge. And I don't make deals unless I really have to; I find that swiftly dealt out justice is much less trouble. I'm here to sort this mess out once and for all and I intend to do it quickly. I'm not here for revenge, scientific advancement or to satisfy any baser sexual urges, I'm here to deal with an embarrassing situation for the Peacekeepers and I don't care how I achieve that. Am I clear?"

"Oh, as a bell"

"Good." She resumed her walk around the room. "That said, the fact remains that the ability to control wormholes remains a highly desirable target for the supreme council"

"Hey, put your bid in lady. Grayza was prepared to offer up full pardons for me and my friends, in fact Braca's probably still got them around somewhere so just find them I'll down load the equations and we're outta here"

"You believed those pardons were genuine and would be upheld? You're even more stupid than you look. Remember I said I don't make deals Crichton. I'm not going to make bargains with you for wormhole knowledge"

"Well I'm not about to hand it over out of the kindness of my heart"

"Of course not, I quite expect to have to torture it out of you" she said conversationally

"PK torture techniques; been there, done that"

"Yes, I understand that you have shown quite some resistance, but then I've always enjoyed torturing a prisoner who presents a challenge. I have been considering what might be the best technique with which to break you." She carried on in the same conversational tone. "Obviously physical torture is an option, but if you have managed to resist the aurora chair then that could be quite a lengthy process and I might have to inflict so much damage as to make it impossible for you to provide the necessary information. No, I think that psychological torture is probably the best in your case. Oh don't be concerned that I have any ah, accoutrements, like Commandant Grayza; I prefer much more traditional methods. Identify the subject's weakness and use it to your advantage. So, I have spent quite some considerable time studying all the information we have on you, Crichton. It is apparent that the most important things to you are your family, and in that I include your friends on Moya, and your home planet. Using your home planet as a method of psychological torture is impractical as we are nowhere near it, but then I don't need it." She leaned down to speak directly into John's ear "I have everything I need to torture your knowledge out of you right here on this ship. I hold the lives of Aeryn Sun and your unborn child in my power. They are the key to you John Crichton; so let's see how your vaunted resistance holds in the face of their danger. One word from me and Aeryn Sun will be executed. Your other friends are already dead, you cannot save them, but I will give you the chance to save Aeryn Sun and your child. Their lives are a fair exchange for wormhole technology don't you think?"

John swallowed convulsively. This is what he had feared would happen all along. It had taken this woman such a short time to find his weakness and exploit it. He needed to play for time to try and think of a way out for all of them.

"If I give you wormhole technology they'll be OK?"

"If you agree you will be taken to a research facility within Peacekeeper territory and given all the facilities possible to help you make a functional wormhole weapon. Officer Sun will return to the Peacekeepers"

"She'll be with me?"

"Of course not! I'm not stupid, Crichton. She will be kept separately as collateral. When you have delivered a successful weapon I will consider whether you can see her again. You're not really in a position to bargain here, Crichton. I suggest you take some time to think about your position. I will come back in three arns for your answer, and Crichton there will be no second chances. If you do not agree to provide the knowledge in three arns Officer Sun will be executed. You have my word on that." She motioned to the guards to take him away. "I want him placed in cell 3923"


	12. Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

Crichton was marched along endless corridors and thrown into a cell. The door was slammed shut. He looked around

"Usual surroundings; lumpy, uncomfortable bed with no covers, state of the art in basic latrine facilities in the corner, heavy duty surveillance for the voyeurs in the ceiling. Here's something new though," he said as he spied a metal grill in the wall. It was at head height and was perhaps two foot square

"John, is that you?"

"Aeryn?"

Her fingers appeared through the grill. He grabbed them and kissed them

"Oh, babe, thank God you're OK. Have they hurt you? Is the baby alright?"

"We're both fine John. What about you?"

"Well, apart from the fact that I just had a session with the bitch from hell I'm just peachy."

"What did she want?"

"Oh the usual; I either build them a wormhole weapon or they'll kill you and junior"

"What about the others?"

"Red told me they were already dead. Not sure whether to believe her, but from what Scorpy said she showed no mercy in dealing with Grayza so we do have to consider the possibility that she's telling the truth"

"She has offered me a promotion to lieutenant in the intelligence service and a full pardon if I persuade you to help. She says they will even let me have the baby"

"She didn't mention the DNA thing?"

"No, Scorpius must have told her. He was with her when I arrived"

"Then it's a no-brainer babe"

"You can't mean it John! You know you can't give it them. She's a Peacekeeper and a very senior one at that. I think we've learned enough of them by now not to trust anything they say"

"I know, but I can just go along with their plan for the time being. She wants me to go to some research base within Peacekeeper space. There should be plenty of opportunity to escape either on the journey or at the base. Hell, I might even get the chance to destroy another PK facility"

"You know that's not sound thinking, John. We've always been able to get out of these situations before because we work with D'Argo and the others as a team. It's likely that you'll be on your own on this base, so what chance have you of either escape or resisting when they try to force the knowledge out of you? We have to face the possibility that this is it; our luck has finally run out."

"You think we've been lucky with all the shit that's been thrown at us up to now?"

"We're still alive and together aren't we? What I mean is, what if this woman is really serious and not just testing you? 

"They're not gonna kill you Aeryn. She knows you and the baby are my Achilles heel; she's not gonna loose that advantage"

"For all we know she may be more than happy to be rid of a Peacekeeper defector. You know what will happen if you give them the technology; it can only lead to a catastrophic war. I will not be the means by which millions, perhaps billions, of people die. What would we have if you give in? Do you think either of us could really live with ourselves? Let's face it, the odds of us surviving to old age are pretty slim. If I'm going to die let my death mean something, John. So many of us have already died protecting this knowledge. I would be just one more."

"Two, Aeryn, two more"

They were both silent for a moment thinking over all the ramifications of their current predicament. She sighed and hung her head

"It's just like my mother all over again. The peacekeepers are making me choose between my child and the man I love. If I make you give them the knowledge to keep my child alive I will probably never see you again; if I choose to die then my child dies with me" he reached to caress her face with the tips of his fingers

"No, you can have both of us"

"You don't imagine that they're going to let us stay together do you? Once you've made their wormhole weapon you are no longer useful, John and it would be dangerous to keep you alive. I am to return to the ranks and our son would be raised as a Peacekeeper. I would rather die now than let that happen"

"Something will come up, babe, it always does"

"You're deluding yourself if you think Listrac is kidding"

"I know, but I have to hope, Aeryn. It's what I do; blind optimism and hope in the face of insurmountable odds"

He rested his head on the grill and she let her fingers run through his hair in a gesture of comfort.

"You know this conversation is probably being monitored"

"I don't care, let 'em listen. I can't believe this is happening," he banged his fist against the wall in frustration. "After all we've been through to have finally got some happiness together and this happens. I thought we had reached a level of understanding with the Peacekeepers. How many times do we have to get out of these god awful situations?

"There's still Scorpius"

"I'm not sure he has any sway with this woman"

"If she's not bluffing, you know that this is my choice, don't you? I would rather die than let them have the wormhole technology, and I would rather our son was never born than have him raised the way I was when I know he can have so much more, be so much more. I don't want you to feel guilty in anyway; your love will give me the strength to go through with it. The last four cycles of my life have taught me things I never expected and that's all down to you. I wouldn't have missed them for ten promotions and flying Prowlers till I'm ninety. If I could have the time over again I wouldn't change anything, except perhaps not to have been so frightened of loving you so we could have been together sooner"

"You sound like you're giving up, Aeryn"

"No, I'm just being practical and realistic. It's what I do in the face of your blind optimism! Being prepared to die to keep the wormhole knowledge safe is not giving up"

"I'm convinced that it's not gonna come to that, babe, but if it does, I, I'm just not sure that I have the strength to let you go again"

"You must John, for all our sakes. You now that if you don't give them what they want you will soon follow me, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not afraid of death. At least that is one way I can have some peace at last"

The three arns seemed to pass very quickly. They talked in whispers, sharing feelings that they might not get a chance to share again. Crichton remained hopeful that Listrac would not carry out her threat or that Scorpius would pull off a rescue, but as the microts ticked on the tension became tangible and they fell into silence, just touching fingers through the grill. Suddenly the doors opened. Crichton turned to see Commissioner Listrac enter his cell with two guards. At the same time half a dozen guards entered Aeryn's cell

"Well Crichton, I have come for your answer"

"Be strong John, remember what we agreed" John just sat on the bed with his head in his hands muttering "I can't do it, I can't do it." Now, in the moment of truth he knew that if Listrac really was serious these would be the most difficult moments of his life.

"That will be enough Officer Sun. Well, Crichton?"

"Frell off you bitch"

"I take it that is your final answer? So be it. Guards!" The guards grabbed Crichton and pinned him against the wall so that his face was pressed against the grill. He could see Aeryn being shackled to the far wall of her cell, directly in his line of vision

"I will give you one last chance to save them Crichton"

"Please babe, I can't do this. I have to give it to them" he stared at her imploringly

"No John, you know my life is not worth it"

"It is to me"

"You have to be strong, John."

He tried desperately to pull the metal out of the grill but it wouldn't move. "No, no this is cruel. Please don't make me watch" he sobbed. 

"You can still stop this, Crichton" the relentless voice sounded in his ear

"No I can't. I must be strong for Aeryn. You won't win you know. Do you really think killing Aeryn and our baby is going to make me give you what you want?"

"What would you have to live for with them gone? Besides I always have the physical torture option" she moved around to his other side to continue the attack "You can't really love her if you're prepared to let her die"

"It's because I love her that I'm letting it happen" his gaze didn't waiver from Aeryn's as he tried to convey his feelings to her. She smiled sadly at him, letting him know she understood.

"Then you've had your last chance, Crichton" The guards raised their weapons as Listrac turned to address Aeryn

"I'm surprised at you Officer Sun. I gave you an opportunity for advancement in the service you were bred to"

"I'm not my mother"

"No, obviously not. Still, this way is so much simpler than bringing you back into Peacekeeper service and I'll still get what I want in the end" Aeryn ignored her and smiled bravely at John.

"I always loved you John, you know that don't you? Even when I tried not to I loved you, and I always will. I'll be waiting for you" A single tear ran down each of Aeryn's cheeks. John let out a great sob as tears began to pour down his face. At a signal from Listrac the guards fired. Aeryn held his gaze for a moment then slumped forward. One of the guards stepped forward to feel her pulse.

"She's gone, Sir." A strangled animal cry broke from John as he fell to the floor.

****

Author's note: How was that for you? I've only just put the tissues away, especially as I've finally found the full lyrics to what I think is probably the ultimate Crichton and Aeryn song – Joy Division – Love will tear us apart (had to play it very loudly after completing this chapter):

When routine bites hard, and ambitions are low   
And resentment rides high, but emotions won't grow   
And we're changing our ways, taking different roads   
Then love, love will tear us apart again -- 

Why is the bedroom so cold? You've turned away on your side   
Is my timing that flawed - our respect run so dry?   
Yet there's still this appeal that we've kept through our lives   
Love, love will tear us apart again -- 

You cry out in your sleep - all my failings exposed   
There's a taste in my mouth, as desperation takes hold   
Just that something so good just can't function no more   
When love, love will tear us apart again -- 


	13. Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

For one time in his life Scorpius knew that he had made a mistake. That mistake had been under-estimating Commissioner Listrac's determination to remove the threat of the escaped prisoners as soon as possible and come what may. After leaving Listrac with Aeryn he had gone back to the command carrier; he had been anxious to ensure that the Commissioner's plans didn't include incarcerating Sikozu. When he had been informed that she had given Crichton an ultimatum and intended to execute Officer Sun, he had tried to get back on board the Swift, but to no avail. The Commissioner's people had politely but firmly refused to grant him landing approval and he could hardly force his way on to the ship. And now it was too late. His concern for his lover had clouded his mind to the danger that Crichton and Aeryn were in and he resolved that he must never let it happen again.

He recalled how John had reacted when Aeryn had been taken by the Scarrens and feared for his mental state having been made to actually watch her die. He knew he had to do something if he was to make sure that the trigger-happy Commissioner didn't send Crichton the way of his lover before there was a chance to get everything he knew about wormholes. Fortunately Braca appeared at that moment, a frown marring his features, with the perfect excuse to turn Listrac's mind to other matters.

"Scorpius, our scans have picked up a Scarren dreadnought at the edge of our detection range"

"Is it aware of us?"

"I don't know, but it is definitely travelling in this direction and at maximum speed"

"How long before we are in range?"

"Approximately an arn before they will be able to identify us. We will be in weapons range half an arn after that. Should I inform the commissioner?

"Yes, and continue to monitor it closely. I want to know the microt they make contact"

The commissioner immediately made her way to the carrier to discuss the situation

"It is vitally important to our war effort that the Scarrens don't get any information about our new ship. I don't want them even to get so much as an impression of it on their scanners."

"Sir, it may already be too late"

"I am aware of that, captain Braca. However, there is more to the Swift than meets the eye, or should I say less"

"It has a cloaking ability? A ship of that size? Surely not!" She acknowledged Scorpius' intuition with a nod

"Only for short periods at the moment, but that should be enough for us to get away undetected before the Scarrens arrive"

This discussion was interrupted by a message from the command centre

"Sir, the Dreadnought is hailing us"

"I want you and Scorpius to deal with them, Braca. I don't want them aware of my presence for the time being"

As they entered the command centre Minister Aknar's face appeared on the screen

"Minister Aknar, a delight as always" began Scorpius

"Cut out the dren, Scorpius. We know you have Crichton"

"On the contrary minister. He is not on this ship" Listrac smiled slightly at Scorpius' judicious use of the truth

"I'm warning you, don't mess with me Scorpius. Remember what I did to you last time we met"

"Yes, yet here I am back on a command carrier and none the worse for the experience. I presume the emperor has charged you with making amends for your mistakes on Katratzi?" She chose to ignore this comment

"Crichton has committed crimes against the Scarren Empire for which he must be punished. I demand that you hand him into my custody"

"And let you torture his wormhole knowledge out of him? I don't think so. Besides, I believe you'll find that we have prior claim to him on that front, minister. Crichton has been wanted for crimes against the Peacekeepers for several cycles"

"I'm warning you Scorpius, I have full authority to consider any protection offered to Crichton as an act of war. If you persist in this denial your carrier and the leviathan will be targeted and destroyed"

"Then we will have no option but to retaliate." Scorpius pressed a button and the screen went blank. The Commissioner appeared out of the shadows at the side of the room.

"I thought they might be up to something like this. That woman will take any excuse to try and better herself, even if she dies in the process. At least the cloak appears to be working. I shall leave at once. I need to get Crichton back to Peacekeeper space as soon as possible anyway."

"What should I do when the Scarrens arrive, Sir?"

"Stall them, deny all knowledge; use your imagination, Captain"

"What if they attack?"

"Then you consider it an act of war and retaliate. I give you full authority to take whatever action you deem necessary captain Braca"

She turned to leave. Scorpius could see his chance of getting Crichton back fading. If Listrac took him back to Peacekeeper space he was as good as dead and the wormhole knowledge gone. He spoke up quickly.

"If you still wish Crichton to develop a wormhole weapon, I can't help advising that executing Officer Sun was a miscalculation, Commissioner. I believe that you under-estimate Crichton's dependence on her"

"That won't last long Scorpius. It will just weaken him and make it easier to get what we want when we get him back to High Command"

It was time for the last role of the dice. He leaned over and whispered in her ear so that Braca couldn't hear

"I think you should know that I know your little secret, Commissioner." She just laughed harshly

"I'm in the espionage business Scorpius, my whole life is full of secrets." He smiled nastily at her

"If you say so, Commissioner"

"You had better tell me what you think you know Scorpius," she glanced dismissively at Braca. "In private"

Scorpius' movements after he left Listrac were circumspect. He went to his quarters and spoke quietly to Sikozu who started to pack up their few belongings. Then they both made their way to one of the landing bays onto a small transport craft

"Braca, Commissioner Listrac has requested that I secure the leviathan away from any immediate danger of the Scarrens"

"Yes, Scorpius" the harassed captain replied. Braca had quite enough to think about without worrying about the leviathan. Scorpius felt a mild twinge of guilt at abandoning his loyal servant in this way, but it was only a momentary feeling. What he was doing was for the greater good and Braca's and the command carrier's fate were already effectively sealed. 

Braca continued to track the dreadnought's approach; they would be within weapons range in 500 microts.

"Bring the ship to full battle readiness. I want the frag cannons primed, Lieutenant." As his staff scurried around him, he watched the monitors as the leviathan went into starburst and disappeared. The new ship had disappeared from the monitors sometime ago. With 200 microts to go before the Scarrens were in range it briefly reappeared as it prepared to launch into its high velocity manoeuvre

"Good fortune, Captain. The Peacekeepers are depending on you" Commissioner Listrac's voice came over the comms just before the ship moved away. Suddenly there was an enormous explosion. On the view screen he saw the Swift One, the new pride of the Peacekeeper fleet explode into oblivion. Collective gasps and screams could be heard all around the command centre of the carrier. Braca stood rooted to the spot. He could not believe what he had just seen.

"Lieutenant, check the data on that ship, and launch a search for survivors." He knew this last order to be fruitless; no one could have survived such an explosion. Braca had to force himself over his shock quickly as the view of the exploding ship was replaced by minister Aknar's face

"I see the leviathan has escaped but your carrier will not captain. If Crichton is not shown to me in 50 microts we will destroy you" Braca thought briefly about stalling her, saying that he needed more time to have Crichton brought up from the cells, but he decided against it. Taking a deep breath he spoke one word

"Fire"

The war had begun.


	14. Chapter 13

****

Chapter 13

The guard looked in at Crichton. He lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling in exactly the same position he had been in three arns ago when he had last checked on him. After the Peacekeeper defector Sun had been shot the guard had watched as Crichton had curled up in a foetal ball on the floor and rocked himself back and forward silently, tears running down his face. After a while he had started muttering to himself but had eventually fallen silent. He now lay unmoving and virtually catatonic on the bed. He was going to be difficult to move, but move him they must because the Commissioner had requested that he be brought to her quarters, no doubt for more interrogation.

The muttering had been as a result of a visit from Harvey. This had taken place in a padded cell, and John and Harvey were both wearing straight jackets. John was struggling to get out of his.

"You have to snap out of it, John. This behaviour won't bring her back and it won't save you from Listrac"

"Frell off, you bastard. Where were you when I needed you? What about all that "I just want to keep you safe John" crap, huh? Well keeping me safe means keeping Aeryn safe too and you failed dismally there"

"I'm only in your head, John. I can't affect real events as they happen"

"Like hell you can't! Your alter ego, doppelganger, whatever he is, certainly can and he didn't raise a finger"

"You haven't considered the possibility that he was unable to"

"I wouldn't have given up so easily" he continued in his struggle to get out of the jacket

"May be his patience with you has finally run out, John. You continuously disappoint him by refusing to give wormholes to the Peacekeepers"

"I blew up his plants for him. What more does he want?" 

"You know the answer to that question"

John moved over to a wall and did a move on his shoulder à la Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. Grimacing in pain he shook off the straight jacket

"If you're not gonna be helpful, Harv, go away. I don't feel much like talking at the moment," he said through gritted teeth

"If you say so John" Harvey wriggled for a couple of moments then easily removed the jacket with a grin. John just glared at him

The guard came back with a reinforcement. Together they managed to lift Crichton off the bed. He refused to help in any way so they just dragged him along by his arms. They dumped him in the Commissioners quarters. 

Crichton lay for a few moments orienting himself to his new surroundings. By now he didn't really care what they did to him: the sooner his pain ended the better. Suddenly, however, the sound of someone speaking drew his attention

"Good fortune, Captain. The Peacekeepers are depending on you"

He instantly recognised that hated voice and he seemed to come alive. Jumping up he lunged at the Commissioner, both hands aiming for her throat. She easily pushed him off.

"I can't decide whether you're pathetic or heroic, Crichton" He refused to answer "I could just put you in the chair right now. You're so weak your resistance would be too low to withstand it" Still no rise from him

Suddenly the ship lurched violently throwing them both to the floor. It was this that finally pushed Crichton into speaking

"What the frell was that?" he croaked, picking himself up gingerly

"I believe it was this ship exploding" replied the Commissioner, dusting herself off

"Now you've lost me lady"

"This ship is capable of a rapid travel manoeuvre similar to starburst. We have just gone into that manoeuvre. However, my people have been able to develop a technique that simulates total destruction at the same time. It's a bit more violent than the normal one, as we have just experienced, but leaves an impression that a catastrophic explosion has taken place. As far as Captain Braca and the command carrier are concerned this ship was just destroyed, killing everybody on board. You, me, everyone. There will even be debris evidence to convince high command."

"Is this some sort of weird torture technique? 'Cos if it is I think you should know that I don't get it"

"Yes, it probably needs more explanation. Come with me." Despite himself he was intrigued and followed her as she led him down various corridors into what was obviously the ship's medical area. They went through the back of the area into a separate room. As she stepped aside he saw that it contained Aeryn's body.

"No, no I can't take this." He stared at her too pale face with a desperate longing

"Go on Crichton, go to her." He wanted to resist, knowing Listrac could probably use his vulnerability at this moment, but he moved towards her anyway, unable to stop himself. At least this was a chance to say a proper goodbye. He put out an unsteady hand to caress her cheek. It took a few microts before he realised that it wasn't cold as he had expected but warm. He turned to Listrac, a look of incomprehension on his face. She was smiling at him. Looking around he realised that there were banks of monitors blinking away in the background, monitoring Aeryn's condition.

"How? Why?" he managed to get out

"I needed her dead. In fact I needed it to appear that you were all dead. I wanted High Command to believe that I had tortured you for your knowledge and used her as a tool in that torture as they would have expected me to. I needed the execution to look as authentic as possible, but she was only shot with a kill shot that temporarily stopped her heart function and put her into a coma. My report, accompanied by full surveillance recordings, is on its way to High Command as we speak. It will be followed by Braca's report of my death in the ship's explosion. I will be given a heroic send off and you, Aeryn and your friends will be struck off the wanted list as "deceased". She should come round in an arn or so. You might as well stay," she said casually, smiling at his utter confusion. He watched in amazement as she made to leave

"I don't pretend to understand any of this"

"No I don't suppose you do. I shall come back when Aeryn is recovered and give you both some explanation. You probably deserve it"

Crichton sat watching Aeryn. The machine monitoring her heart bleeped in a reassuringly rhythmic fashion. He held her hand, his thumb stroking the back of it in time with that rhythm. He was equally comforted by the sound from the machine monitoring the baby's heartbeat, as rhythmic as his mother's, but going about twice as fast. As he watched her eyelids started to flicker

"Hey, babe"

"Hmmmm"

"Aeryn, honey you need to try and wake up"

"sis real?..Not….dead?"

"No you're not dead babe, and this is very real, if extremely weird"

"Didn't…give…worm…..les"

"No I didn't give them wormholes, sweetheart. I didn't give them anything. You sleep for a while longer and I'll explain everything later" she nodded slowly and drifted off again. 

About an arn or so later Aeryn came round more fully. As she stirred John leaned forward and kissed her

"How ya doin' sweetheart?"

"I feel like dren. What the frell happened to me?"

"You died again, only not for real this time," he said, taking her gently in his arms. "That head honcho Peacekeeper woman is one scary lady. I'm not really sure what's going on but she seems to have some sort of plan"

"Well it had better be a frelling good one. I feel like I've been on the end of a bout of D'Argo's hyper rage"

The Commissioner appeared back as John was helping Aeryn get somewhat unsteadily to her feet. She motioned them to sit back down "before you both fall down." She pursed her lips as if in thought and they looked at her a little warily but with a certain amount of expectation rather than fear.

"I suppose it is time that I gave you a full explanation of what is going on and the reason I put you both through the performance of the last few arns." She turned to Aeryn. "Officer Sun, when you were with the ex-Peacekeeper assassination squad were you told anything about where orders came from?"

"Just that there was a source within high command friendly to our cause." Listrac looked at her and held her gaze until the penny dropped. "It was you?"

"Probably not me per se, but one of my people. We were using that squad and others like it to carry out assassinations of some of the more fanatical supporters of the Peacekeepers and Scarrens who had a penchant for violence and tyranny." She paused again briefly to let them digest this piece of information "Like you, Aeryn, I was born and raised in the Peacekeeper service. I have been in the somewhat shady world of Peacekeeper intelligence since birth. I was the youngest ever disrupter in active service. Generally a model of the Peacekeeper ideal"

"You were a disrupter?" asked Crichton "Do you have, you know, the stilettos in your wrist and everything?" She laughed at his question

"I used to. I had them removed when I stopped working in the field" she showed him the scars on her wrists. "They were actually extremely uncomfortable but they came in handy on any number of occasions. Anyway, as I was saying, I rose through the ranks quickly, never questioning the Peacekeeper ideals or doctrine, but for the last few cycles it has been apparent to me that those ideals and values have changed. They are no longer what they were and I started to question whether I wanted to continue to serve such an oppressive and intolerant organisation. I am in a position to see its very heart and it is black to the core. Fortunately my position also gives me a great deal of influence and a certain amount of covertness is expected in my activities. I have been gathering together a number of like-minded groups to form an alternative alliance to the current Peacekeeper establishment. My operatives have been able to negotiate the support of a number of both Peacekeeper and Scarren allies who were disillusioned with the yoke of these powers around their necks. I am now in a position to put my plan into action. The Peacekeepers and the Scarrens are at their most vulnerable, concentrating on each other. I have this ship. You and your friends were another important part of the equation"

"So the others are still alive?"

"Yes, they are on Moya and will meet up with us shortly. Again, I wanted high command to believe I had behaved like the ruthless killer they thought they had made me and executed them"

"Wow, this is mind blowing. You're telling us that the PK second in command has set up a rebel organisation to destroy the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens?"

"Not destroy them: I believe that they can do that quite effectively to each other without any need for intervention on my part. However, I do want to be in a position to encourage and accelerate the military destruction and offer an alternative way forward, with the aim of getting back to the original principles of the Peacekeepers; helping to keep the Peace but allowing individual peoples to control their own government, not oppressing them to a dictators rule"

"Why are we so important in this grand scheme?"

"There's an obvious answer to that"

"Wormholes. I won't let you have them as a weapon anymore that I would the other guys"

"I know and that's part of the plan. We have to take you out of the equation. I don't want anyone to get wormhole weapons because it would be a huge advantage. I had hoped that the Quajagans might have been able to keep you safe but I obviously under-estimated your ingenuity and ability to escape"

"Dickhead's with you? I thought they hated all Peacekeepers?"

"They do. I was able to make a deal with them by offering them hope for the future. In return they agreed to hold you and Aeryn for me"

"This is overwhelming." He slipped into silence, digesting what he had heard. Aeryn, who had been quiet up until now spoke up

"What can we do to help?

John looked at her sharply. It was unusual for her to immediately trust someone, especially someone who not so many arns ago had tortured them then had her shot, but she seemed to have decided that Listrac was someone they could work with. The Commissioner just smiled at Aeryn's offer and accepted it.

"It is still vital that John's knowledge is kept safe so I will need your co-operation on that front. My immediate plan is to lay low for a while; I don't want to any of us to re-appear too soon because that would loose any advantage our imagined deaths could bring. I think I have done enough to start the war; that power-mad imbecile Aknar should see to that" Crichton smirked at this dismissive description of his Scarren nemesis. "I want to see how things develop on that front. However, I do have need of help from your friends. The Hynerians and Luxans would be powerful allies if we can get them to join our alliance. I wouldn't want to tackle the Nebari just yet, but the involvement of their resistance would be useful. So you can see that I have a role for everyone on Moya"

"You are very well informed about us"

"That's what I do, Crichton. Besides I had a very good source"

"Scorpius?"

"No, someone quite different." They looked at her questioningly. "Did you never wonder where the old woman came from?"

"Granny's with you?" John asked incredulously

"I must say that she is a somewhat unconventional spy, but very reliable. I almost gave up hope when I received her report that you were on your way to Katratzi"

"She was communicating with you all along? Wait till I get my hands on her. And Pilot must have been co-operating and sending messages for her"

"Oh no, your Pilot is completely unaware. She is able to communicate thoughts over long distances using her third eye." Crichton just stared at her unbelievingly

"I can't believe Granny's a spy. I mean she gave me drugs for christsakes!"

"Yes, well I did say she was unconventional" She stood up and made to leave. "Well I must go. Revolutions don't run themselves you know!" She briefly clasped both their hands "I'm sorry about what I had to put you through back there. I hope you understand the reasons. If I had known quite how badly it would affect you, Crichton I would have come up with a different way. I can only say in my defence that I had yet to appreciate what true love means in the way Aeryn has come to understand it, but the pair of you certainly gave me a good lesson in that cell"

"Hey, it's all forgotten now that I've got her back in one piece, and we know you're not a baddie!"

They both watched in amazed awe as she purposefully left the room.


	15. Chapter 14

****

Chapter 14

They met up with Moya a few arns later. Listrac took Crichton and Aeryn over to the leviathan on a transport. The reunion with the rest of the crew was a happy one, but none of them could really comprehend John and Aeryn's story. However, after Listrac had explained her plans to them they were all willing to help, recognising that her alliance held a hope of freedom for their peoples and the possibility that they themselves could return to their homes. It was agreed that the first priority was to see if the Luxans could be persuaded to give up their treaty with the Peacekeepers and join the alliance. Rygel had argued at first that Hyneria was more important, but even he could see that this was the best tactic. D'Argo was already starting to plan how it could be done. Whilst they were discussing how they could best use the knowledge that Grayza had been prepared to sell the Luxans down the river for a treaty with the Scarrens, Listrac pulled Aeryn to the side.

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk privately?" Aeryn withheld her surprise at the request and took her to the terrace. Listrac began to speak without preamble.

"There is something important that we need to discuss. It's something I shouldn't really tell you. It could be used against both of us, but I think it's time for you to know." She paused slightly then began again "I have watched you for a long time Aeryn Sun." Aeryn looked at her questioningly, her head held slightly to one side.

"Peacekeeper intelligence runs in my family. My mother was a highly thought of intelligence officer and very effective disrupter. She was selected to take part in a special secret breeding programme designed to produce high calibre intelligence personnel. The idea was to produce candidates for the intelligence service in secret, no records of their birth, nothing; no way of tracing them. A young officer who was with the intelligence service at the time and showing great aptitude was selected to father the child. I was the product of the experiment"

"So? What has this got to do with me?"

"The young officer selected was called Talyn Lyzcak"

"My, my father?"

"Our father. It wasn't until many cycles later that Talyn met Xhalax Sun. I was showing great promise in training and was ready to take on my first assignment. Talyn knew too much about intelligence service functioning and this breeding programme in particular. After your birth, High Command saw the perfect opportunity to rid themselves of this problem."

"By having my mother kill him"

"Precisely"

"How do you know all this?"

"There are some advantages to being head of Peacekeeper intelligence with the highest security clearance in the service!" Aeryn digested this astounding piece of information for a moment

"You're my sister! Wow, I've got a sister!"

"You know much more about this family and relationship thing than I do." They smiled rather awkwardly at each other. Aeryn felt she should show something more, remembering how John and his sister had kissed and hugged each other, but that didn't feel quite right with this woman who, not withstanding that it was a sham, had tortured John and had her shot only arns before. So, as was her way, she settled for direct questions instead.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Only Scorpius"

"Scorpius? How come him of all people?"

"He guessed when he saw us together in my quarters. Although we both resemble our respective mothers physically, we must have inherited our energy signals from our father because they are apparently remarkably similar. So much so that Scorpius knew we must be very closely related. When he challenged me with it I had little choice but to tell him and then involve him in my plan. I must say he was mightily relieved that it was all a set up. He seems extremely attached to Crichton"

"In more ways than you can guess, but I suppose they sort of understand each other now"

"Well I'm glad to have him involved; he is a useful ally if just for his connections in the Scarren hierarchy." Aeryn then moved on to something that had been bothering her since their conversation in the Swift's med bay.

"You described a role for everyone on Moya except for John and I. What do you have in mind for us?"

"I wasn't joking when I said that John needed to be taken out of the equation. I don't want him to be placed in any more situations where either the Scarrens or the Peacekeepers could obtain the wormhole knowledge. There is a planet deep in tormented space that we have established as a base. It is so far away from their respective territories that it is completely unknown to either the Scarrens or the Peacekeepers. I want you and John to go there until the war is over. I have a garrison of troops there and we are using it as a training base. I will put you in command of that garrison Lieutenant Sun"

"Thanks for the offer and the promotion, but I want to stay here where the action is, to be with you. To fight for this new alliance"

"I know you probably do, Aeryn, but the most important thing you can do for me at the moment is to keep Crichton out of trouble"

"You don't ask for much do you! Believe me, no one, not even me, can keep Crichton out of trouble"

"Well, I thought you'd like the challenge! You also seem to be forgetting that you're pregnant. I also want you to make sure that my nephew makes it into the world safely and being in the middle of a battle zone is hardly conducive to that!"

"We'd both be fine" Aeryn replied, a scowl starting to mar her features as she felt herself loosing the battle. She tried another tack "John won't want to be hidden away on some backwater planet"

"Oh I don't know. I think I'll only have to mention the healthy atmosphere ideal for a baby and the excellent medical facilities for your care"

"You wouldn't" Aeryn's scowl grew deeper, knowing that her sister had read John's over-protective tendencies very well. In this, however, they were both wrong. When Listrac put the plan to him he looked over at Aeryn and contemplated her in silence for a few moments. He could tell by the mutinous look on her face that she wasn't best pleased with the idea, even with her own garrison to command.

"Thanks, er, Gella, but I think we'll pass. We'll stay on Moya if you don't mind: She's our home. I think Aeryn would be much more comfortable here, even without the sophisticated medical care, and what makes Aeryn happy makes me happy. Besides, I think we would both like our son to be born on Moya if at all possible." Crichton eyed her wearily, wondering what her reaction would be. She seemed to be extremely used to people just doing what she said with no question. Aeryn had told him about their rather surprising relationship. It was a bit too like Dallas for him: long lost sister turns up out of the blue, but Aeryn seemed pleased to have found some family. He also wasn't sure he fancied her as a sister-in-law: She was even scarier than Aknar and she didn't need a hat! Sister-in-law or not he certainly wasn't going to let her dictate to them where they lived and what they did. His stance was amply rewarded by a smile from Aeryn and her hand clasping his.

Gella regarded them both solemnly for a moment. She was a good judge of people and she didn't like to waste time trying to change minds that she knew wouldn't change, so she accepted their decision without further debate.

"Very well, but please make sure that you keep a reasonably low profile. I don't want to have to go through the effort of rescuing you from either the Scarrens or the Peacekeepers again because quite frankly I can't spare the manpower"

"Hey, we'll keep granny aboard, then you'll know everything that we're up to anyway. And you might as well let Scorpy come with us too. He's usually pretty good at protecting my hide"

"Alright. I'm trusting you to look after Aeryn and my nephew as well Crichton"

"Huh, the day he can look after…"

"Now don't start that again, honey"

"Don't you honey me, John Crichton"

"But it's a term of endearment, sweetie, it means I care about you"

"If you cared about me you wouldn't refer to me as some sort of sugary substance……"

Gella smiled at the bickering pair and thought how this love was a very strange thing. She backed away and left them to it. The next time she saw them was to say goodbye. They came into the maintenance bay to see her transport off. They were holding hands and smiling whereas only half an arn before they had been at loggerheads. Yes, this love was definitely a very strange thing.

All the crew watched as the transport sped away from Moya and then the beautiful silvery-white ship shot away without a trace. Pilot prepared for starburst. They were headed for tormented space again to find a suitable wormhole to take them to the Luxan territories.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends" muttered John as Moya launched into starburst. 

****

THE END

Author's note: I was tempted to put "To be continued" in true Farscape style as there are plenty of threads to pick up and take forward (I estimate that we're at about ep3 of Season 5), but I'm not sure I have the energy at the moment (besides, the house and garden are a tip – I need to spend some time clearing them up instead of writing when I'm not at work), but you never know I could very well get my muse back sometime. Many thanks for all the feedback and encouragement – hope you enjoyed it and liked the little twists towards the end.


End file.
